How to Make Yourself Indispensable

How-to Make Yourself Indispensable, Part III

Becoming indispensable may be a necessity in this job market, but taking a different approach to your job can change the perception of your position that will last well beyond the recession. You may even find that your job title doesn't really suit you anymore, because you've outgrown it on your quest to becoming indispensable. Not sure where I'm going with this?

Let's say you start out as an assistant, doing thorough work and achieving what's expected of someone in your position. As you've taken on additional responsibilities — some that show your ability to be flexible and some that show off your smarts — you've actually molded your own job description into something that is much different than when you began.

Jobs are typically more rewarding once you've made yourself indispensable; it's nice to know an employer needs you just as much as you need them.

Anonymous nr, and Anonymous above,
Wow, you two are pretty bitter!
The advice is sound, and unless you two were lacking in some specific skill sets, maybe it was time to move up to some other job that could use your skills that were clearly being wasted at Lowe's and wherever?
My current career began just a step above entry level and I have worked my way up to middle management by pretty much doing exactly what was suggested in all three of these small articles. It is about looking good (not showing off and putting others down, mind you!!) but doing a good job, asking questions (i.e. networking) and getting to know those who are above you. In my last promotion my superior said that he liked how I took ownership of the office, even taking out the trash, he then said that he wanted to speak to me about my job. I was promoted the next week.

5 years

i agree with anonymous nr 100%, i used to work for lowes and they would have a meeting in the morning telling everyone that they were going to cut hours so they( management) could hit there labor bouses. pretty sick. on top of that i now work for a small company for about a year now and have seen 60 people go threw there. some for hours some for being fired for not being trained on something they were never trained to do, or in realty because the owner didn't like them for some reason. its funny how the people at the top seem to not care about the people who work for them anymore... another fish in the see will fill there place.

5 years

In my opinion, indispensable is not something that large or international companies look at anymore. Even the smaller companies think like the bigger ones now. No matter if you are the owner or the last person hired you are not indispensable. They can fire you just because you make more than they want you to, or just because they don't like the way you did your hair this morning. There is no such thing as job security any more. Now they just call it 'downsizing' or 'corporate reorganization'. No matter what you know or how well you do your job, companies are no longer loyal to their employees, even the good ones. But, they expect total loyalty, unpaid hours of work, and no compensation for a job well done.